Monday, February 28, 2005

Of the Oscars.......

Getting nominated seven times for an Oscar and never winning one is a rare fit not everyone can achieve. I don't know why the Oscar guys hate Martin Scorsese so much.

I haven't seen "Million Dollar Baby", so can't really say if Clint Eastwood deserved the best director Oscar. But Scrosese's direction for "The Aviator" is mind blowing. Don't miss the movie at any cost. "Leonardo DiCaprio" is brilliant as the eccentric businessman Howard Hughes. I think he is the most underrated actor currently in Hollywood. After watching "The Aviator" I was pretty sure he will bag home the Oscar. Again I haven't seen "Ray", so can't say if "Jamie Foxx" was better than "DiCaprio".

Read somewhere that "Black" is Sanjay Lila Bansali's yet another attempt at Oscar. If that is the case, I am disappointed. The movie is good, but don't think will even get shortlisted for the final round if it is India's entry to the Oscars. I think SLB tried too hard. Mr. Amitabh Bachhan delivers an impeccable performance once again. Rani is impressive, but the highlight of the movie is Ayesha Kapoor. A good movie but could have been better.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Boys Of Summer

Summer time...
Hot Afternoons...
T-Shirts and Cargos...
Empty Streets...
Watercoolers and AC...
Dull Weekends...
Crowded evenings...
Weak Appetite...
Cold drinks...
Tons of Water...

I hate summer.

Thank God good part of my day is spent in the office. Last weekend I suddenly realized summer is here, when I went out to grab something for lunch at 1PM. The streets were empty and so were most of the shops. Go out for couple of minutes in the blistering sun and the experience drains out every ounce of energy you had in you.

I wonder how is it gonna be in April/May? ( I have seen the worse during my Pilani days, though )

This heat leaves me no option but to watch movies on weekends. Saw five of them the last weekend. Barry Levinson's "Rainman" and "Wag The Dog". Both movies were good but could have been made better.

Best of the lot was the classic "Oliver" which is based on "Olivers Twist" by "Charles Dickens". If you love musicals, this is a must watch. Mind blowing music and choreography. My another favourite musical being "West Side Story".

And the modern classic "Pulp Fiction". Have seen it N number of times and everytime I watch it, I get a bang out of it.

Monday, February 07, 2005

The weekend that was.....

I realized my flat was a mess when the landlord came to collect the rent on Saturday. He said with sarcasm, You have kept the flat pretty tidy. His remarks set me thinking and thus began "Operation CleanUp".

I sometimes curse myself for staying in a 2BHK flat, when I definitely don't need more than 2 rooms. All you can find in the hall are books. The master bedroom contains my bed and the wardrobe and the second bedroom contains my computer and the guitars with the gear. The kitchen is literally empty, not a single utensil. You might think cleaning then would be a much more simple. Believe me it only makes it tough with all the empty space in the rooms.

If not done on a regular basis, cleaning, can be a frustrating chore. I first shifted stuff from a bedroom to another so that I could do the sweeping and mopping properly. It took good 3 hours from the precious weekend hours to finish everything. It is at times like these, I am hit by the fact that I need to work out a bit. But I was happy about the results and decided to stay home and treat myself to "The Usual Suspects".

Also visited the much hyped "Hyderabad Central" mall for the first time. Being a weekend, it was stuffed with people and what can I say about the management, just one word, lousy. It took 15 minutes to park my car in the area they call "Parking Space". But the offerings on the four floors were decent enough with almost all good brands setting shops there. I had a friend with me for shopping. When it comes to shopping I have this idea in my mind about the stuff I want to purchase. I just go and pick the first thing which I like and thats it, its the end of my shopping. My friend on the other hand is an extreme end, he insists on having a look at each and every color/brand available before settling for something. And I thought only gals are finicky about shopping.

Visited the book shop in the mall but was let down when they told me they don't have "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time". Planet-M was not to the mark, with very limited collection, but they had a DVD of award winning documentary on Woodstock.

Not to forget, I was really impressed with the alterations service which they offer. Fast and free while maintaining the quality. Managed to peep into the room where alterations were done and was amazed to see 15 tailors sitting in a very small room, speeding the machines through the trousers at 10'o clock in the night. Met at work. I wish I had my camera with me to capture that moment.....